


Loud Quiet

by army_of_angels



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Derek Hale, Cursed Derek Hale, Emissary Stiles Stilinski, Except Stiles and Boyd, F/M, Getting Together, M/M, Multi, Scott McCall (Teen Wolf) is a Failwolf, Shitty pack, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:40:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26726074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/army_of_angels/pseuds/army_of_angels
Summary: During a peaceful meeting with some witches, Derek gets hit with a spell that renders him mute. Whether they're so used to his reticence or they just don't care, the pack doesn't notice that anything's wrong. It also happens to be the one weekend Stiles is out of town.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 22
Kudos: 438





	Loud Quiet

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I have nothing to do with Teen Wolf, the Academic Decathlon, or Chevrolet.
> 
> Canon through most of Season 02 (no Erica, Boyd, and Allison leaving/no Alpha Pack) and then there were still random monsters but not as crazy as in the show. The pack are now Seniors.
> 
> The pack is not painted in the best light here, especially Scott and Erica. I don't like Scott so whatever but I did do Erica dirty :/

Derek stalked through the Preserve toward the rendezvous point, just hoping that for once this meeting would be quick and easy. It _should_ be since the coven just wanted to negotiate safe passage and a brief stay.

He was admittedly a bit apprehensive, though, because Stiles, Boyd, and Lydia (aka the Betas who handle these things the best) were not present. They were on the BHS Academic Decathlon team and they had made it to the national championships in Denver.

They were only out of town for three days but the witches were already at the border so this couldn’t wait. Derek was the Alpha anyway and perfectly capable of handling something simple like this.

He was just paranoid and, at only 21 years old, he tended to lean on his pack a bit more than was probably usual. At least Derek had improved his leadership skills and opened up a bit since he killed Peter a couple years back.

Not that the Argents wouldn’t butt their heads into this, too. Allison always showed up and then Scott ended up being more concerned about protecting her than anybody else, even though she was far more capable of taking somebody down than him.

The witches seemed pleasant enough, though, if a bit brazen. Thankfully, the negotiations went smoothly even though Erica and Jackson were making snide comments under their breath the whole time about the witches’ wardrobe choices and something about warts.

The head of the coven shook Derek’s hand to seal the deal but confided that she had cast a spell to increase their hearing abilities in case the ‘wolves were conspiring anything nefarious. They had heard all of the Betas’ petty commentary.

Embarrassed, he started to apologize but the witch just laughed him off saying it wasn’t a big deal but that those kids should really learn some respect. Then she smirked and suddenly a jet of green light was flying out of her hand.

Derek instinctively flung himself in front of his pack members, taking the spell straight to his sternum, and hitting the ground with a dull thud. _This_ is why they needed the whole pack: Boyd to temper Erica and Lydia to keep Jackson on a tight leash.

The witch pouted that her target had been thwarted, but her counterparts drew her away and with a few muttered words they were disappearing into thin air before anybody else even reacted.

Derek took stock of himself, confusedly patting down his body, but he didn’t notice or feel anything different. That’s actually more concerning. Isaac asks if he’s okay so he just shrugs.

Erica offers him a hand. “Thanks, boss.” Jackson says the same, in his own way. “Yeah, these jeans are way too expensive to get grass stains.” Derek just grunts and rolls his eyes.

Allison and Scott have already started walking off without a backwards glance. They pause a ways away, though, clearly waiting for Isaac who is instead jogging over to him. “Are we all good, Derek? No need for a pack meeting or anything, right? Scott, Ally, and I are going to hang out.”

Derek replies with an easy, “No, have fun.” Except… he doesn’t. His mouth opens but no sound comes out. He tries again – nothing. What the fuck.

Isaac is still waiting for a response and Derek points to his mouth and then makes a cutting motion across his neck to try and convey that apparently he can’t speak.

This just makes Isaac, always so defensive, glare at him, though. “Is that supposed to be a threat? I know they’re not your favorite people but I _am_ going out with them whether you like it or not.”

Derek growls in frustration at Isaac’s gross misinterpretation and tries again. He purposefully jabs his index finger towards himself, then makes a talking motion with his hand while simultaneously shaking his head.

Isaac just squints at him confusedly before rolling his eyes and turning on his heels towards Scott and Allison. Derek turns to Erica and Jackson, trying to convey panic through his eyes and through the pack bonds, but they just stare blankly back at him.

Jackson condescends, “I know this is a crazy concept for you, but if you _use your words_ we don’t have to play charades.”

Derek flashes his eyes angrily at him but then Jackson’s already moving on, pulling out his phone. His phone! Of course! Derek quickly pulls his out, bringing up his texts and starts to type but no matter what he presses, the wrong letters come out and it just ends up being gibberish.

Apparently his Betas see this as a dismissal anyway because when he looks up they’re both walking away muttering stuff like ‘rude’ and ‘not even a thank you’ and ‘can’t believe I had to cancel my manicure for this.’

Derek sighs as he questions his past self for the millionth time on deciding to bite these brats. He doesn’t remember Laura being this annoying when she was 18. Apparently curing somebody’s epilepsy will get you some loyalty but it’ll also create a pretty big ego.

He’s really tried to bring the pack together but it seems as if no matter what he offers, be it his home, his training, his brain, his car, his money, his time, or whatever else, it’s just never good enough.

Derek knows that the Betas will seek out more compatible packs to transfer to when they go off to college. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t relieved. Now that he’s not desperate for pack members, he’ll be able to actually go about building his pack up properly.

For now, Derek heads to Deaton’s to see if the man can help him with his sudden muteness (even though the Druid is another huge fan of his, he thinks sarcastically). He suspects that even though Deaton would have smugly declined, the man was miffed when Derek asked Stiles to be his Emissary instead of him.

He arrives and has to bang on the door since the vet insists on lining his practice with mountain ash. No answer. Of course. Derek moves to the window to see if he can look in and, would ya’ look at that, Deaton is right there at the front desk shuffling some papers around.

Derek tried knocking once more to no avail before he resigns himself to heading back home and trying to research alone. Suffice to say he doesn’t have much success.

* * *

Derek wakes up leisurely the next morning; it’s Saturday so he doesn’t have to drive anybody to school. He rolls over, grabbing his phone off the nightstand, and sees a flood of texts from Stiles from the night before.

He smiles at the all caps locked messages describing the first day of events and the hotel room. There are also multiple selfies of Stiles beaming with a bemused Boyd and an unimpressed Lydia. Derek may or may not save those to his phone.

One of the last texts, though, is asking why Derek’s not replying and he’s all of a sudden harshly reminded of the fact that he can’t communicate with anybody. Including his Emissary.

Okay. That’s fine. He just has to think _like_ Stiles. What would he do? Probably something impulsive and brave and reckless and clever…

Go straight to the source and confront the witches. They’d be able to undo it – it was just a question of would they. Derek hadn’t even been the intended target so there shouldn’t be a reason for them not to. He jumps into the Camaro and heads to the hotel.

Thankfully he’s able to avoid speaking to any employees by follow a lingering scent of magic from the lobby to figure out what rooms the coven was staying in. Knocking on the door, he waits impatiently until one of the witches answered it.

The one who does smirks as soon as she sees him and turns back toward the inside of the room to call somebody else’s name. The witch who had hexed him comes to the door and, after a lengthy one-sided argument, he’s told that it was already set to wear off on it’s own.

She concedes that she _could_ remove it immediately but that she still wants to teach his Betas a lesson. According to the witch, the concern and guilt they’ll have for their Alpha will still be an effective punishment. If only his Betas gave a shit. Clearly she doesn’t think about the fact that maybe they would be there with him if they were so worried.

Defeated, Derek heads to the grocery store. They have the bi-monthly pack night that evening and he has to get ingredients for dinner. Plus, maybe if he makes a few extra things it’ll butter them up enough to be patient and try and figure out his miming.

He ends up cooking right up until 7pm, which is when people usually start trickling in. In the mean time, Derek settles in with a book to wait and it isn’t until awhile later when he’s finishing another chapter that he thinks to look at the time. He turns the screen of his phone on and blinks in surprise at the big 08:42 staring back at him.

Derek unlocks it but there’s no new messages or missed calls from the pack members in town. There is a bunch from Stiles and a check-in text from Boyd but nothing else. For a second he thinks he got the day wrong, but no, he definitely didn’t.

Unsettled now, Derek grabs his keys, pulls on his leather jacket, and rushes out to his car. He hadn’t been concerned when Isaac hadn’t come home last night because he could usually be found at Scott’s house during the weekend but maybe something bad had happened.

Here he was feeling sorry for himself, grumbling about lousy Betas, when he can’t even protect his pack! Derek hadn’t felt anything wrong in the pack bonds but maybe that was included in the no communication spell?

It doesn’t take him long to find them, especially since they’re all together. He can hear all their heartbeats (calm, steady) and voices (happy, teasing) in Jackson’s backyard. The worst part is that there isn’t even an actual party going on; it’s really just the four Betas and Allison hanging out.

Derek pulls away from the curb, the sound of their laughter echoing in his ears. His heart aches in a way he doesn’t want to think about as he drives home and numbly packs all the food up and into the fridge. He puts the TV on anyway, just wanting some noise in the large space.

Derek grabs a few of the blankets and pillows from the living room, building a sort of nest on his bed like he used to for Cora, and curls up underneath. His phone buzzes and he curses the little burst of hope that flares up in his chest, knowing it’s probably just Stiles.

It is. This might be the first time that he’s been disappointed to receive a text from the other boy. He scrolls up to the ones he didn’t read before going to Jackson’s house and unconsciously lets out a low whine at the earliest ones.

 **Stiles:** I know pack nights starting soon so ill let u off the hook for not replying to me tonight mister

 **Stiles:** But id better hear from u tomorrow! Just cuz i cant bug u at the loft doesnt mean u can give me radio silence for 3 days!

 **Stiles:** Also the food they provide here sucks so u better save me some leftovers of ur delicious cooking. Scratch that dont wait for leftovers just put a portion of everything in the fridge now before everybody shows up lol

Derek goes to sleep early, phone held tight.

* * *

This time Derek is very aware of his predicament upon waking up. He tries to speak anyway but nothing comes out. He lies in bed for a while longer. Stiles would make a joke about him brooding but whatever.

Speak of the devil – or _think_ of the devil, in his case. Stiles texts the pack group chat (there’s probably another that doesn’t include him, he thinks bitterly) demanding they wish him, Lydia, and Boyd luck because they’re going into the awards ceremony now.

The other Betas all dutifully reply. Derek then gets an individual text saying, “u wound me, Der, I know ur awake by now,” before the screen changes to an incoming call from Stiles.

Derek debates whether he should answer but ultimately decides that there’s no point when all he’d be able to do is growl into the phone. Stiles should enjoy this moment; there’s no point worrying him now. Best just let him think Derek’s asleep or not near phone or something.

**///**

Stiles frowns down at his phone as it continues to ring. Derek might ignore texts but he _always_ answers a call. Seriously, he had once answered the phone from the shower. Added to the fact that he hadn’t actually texted back since Friday morning was not very reassuring.

He checks the Find my Friends app first and is at least a little bit mollified to see that Derek’s phone is at the loft. He anxiously calls Scott, crossing his fingers that Derek hadn’t done something stupid and gotten kidnapped the one weekend Stiles went away.

“Hey, dude!”

“Hey, man, quick question. It’s probably nothing but, y’know, _Beacon Hills._ Was Derek okay last night?”

“Uh, I dunno, last time I saw him was Friday.”

“Fuck, that’s the last time I heard from him, too. Wait did you not go to pack night? Or did he cancel it?”

“No, we all just did our own thing at Jackson’s instead.”

“…You had a pack night without your Alpha?”

“Yeah, I mean, it’s not like anybody other than you and Boyd actually like hanging out with him, y’know? But the rest of us have gotten close and we were actually talking about, like, finding new packs in college or whatever city we end up in after we graduate!”

Stiles becomes more and more angry as Scott speaks. These people were so rude and ungrateful! He would bet anything that none of them had even thought to text Derek that they weren’t coming.

And he knows how Derek’s brain works. The guy had probably cooked or ordered a ton of food and then gotten worried when nobody had shown up. He’d probably gone looking for his pack, found them having a great time without him, and then quietly slipped away to lick his wounds alone at the loft.

The only thing that that didn’t explain was why he wasn’t replying to Stiles.

“That’s fine but you haven’t actually changed packs yet. You guys – Actually, no, I can’t deal with that right now. Can you please just do me a favor, for my peace of mind, and go to the loft and check that Derek’s okay?”

It took a bit more convincing (and a small bribe) but in the end Scott agreed to go. The awards ceremony had started up soon after but Stiles couldn’t help obsessively checking his phone for any word from Scott or, preferably, Derek.

Stiles distractedly registers that his BHS team won Silver but his exhilaration is muted with worry for his Alpha. Their flight back home is pretty early so they leave the festivities quickly, just stopping at the hotel to grab their bags.

Finally, Scott texts him back with a simple “he’s fine,” to which Stiles lets out a very wolf-like growl. He calls him immediately.

“What do you mean ‘fine’? Did you ask if his phone was broken or something?”

“You didn’t tell me to ask that! But seriously, he’s totally good. He looked and smelled completely normal and was his usual glaring and growly self.”

“Hm. Alright then, thanks for checking.”

Stiles feels some of the tension leave his shoulders and he excitedly shares the good news of their win. He’s still a bit suspicious, though; he can’t help it until he sees Derek with his own eyes.

He had planned on just going home after the short flight back to California and then heading to the loft after school tomorrow, but he’d just have to go tonight.

The team travels all the way back to the high school together before splitting up. Stiles still has Roscoe parked there so he gives Boyd a ride before heading to the station to check-in with his Dad.

After catching up a bit and promises of celebratory milkshakes on the Sheriff’s next day off, Stiles finally extracts himself and speeds over to the loft. He rushes up the stairs and tries to tell himself that he’s only so eager to see Derek because he’s a worried Emissary and not because he missed his stupid crush’s face.

He bangs on the door impatiently until he hears shuffling on the other side. Derek opens the door, looking disheveled and dejected, and raises a signature eyebrow in question.

Stiles feels most of his worry dissolve and realizes that maybe this was just a low weekend for Derek. They are both very familiar with those kinds of days where it’s just too hard to get out of bed, let alone do anything else. Then again, Scott said the Alpha had smelled normal, not sad or anything, so maybe not.

He flings his arms around the ’wolf in a quick hug, not even giving Derek the chance to reciprocate before pulling back and punching his arm. “What the hell, dude! You never answered your phone! I was so worried about you but Scott said nothing was wrong, so what’s your excuse, big guy?”

Derek’s face twists into a grimace and his only response is a low whine. Immediately, Stiles is back on guard, narrowing his eyes, “Der?”

The man just points towards his mouth and then makes a cutting motion across his neck before giving Stiles the saddest pleading eyes he’s ever seen.

“You can’t speak?!”

Derek’s eyes light up and he starts nodding frantically, which is good because the other expression was legitimately breaking Stiles’s heart.

Derek pulls out his phone and shows Stiles how whatever he types doesn’t appear on the screen correctly. Then he grabs pen and paper off the coffee table and again demonstrates how whatever he tries to write just comes out as weird squiggles.

Stiles is immediately slipping into problem solving mode, ranting all the way, and analyzing every one of Derek’s expressions and gestures in response.

“I asked Scott to check on you this morning; I can’t believe he lied to me! … He didn’t lie? He did come? … But he didn’t notice that you couldn’t speak? Or smell your distress?? ... Jesus. Okay that’s all kinds of bad but add that to the deal with later list. We need to figure this out.”

Derek gestures to his mouth again, taps his wrist as if there’s a watch, makes a circular ‘go on’ motion with his hand, and then makes an ‘ok’ symbol.

Stiles cocks his head to the side. “You have to wait a certain amount of time and then this spell or whatever will wear off and your voice will come back?”

Derek nods and Stiles relaxes a bit more. “Hm. Do you know how long or just that it will wear off eventually? … Well, I don’t love that but that is good news. I’m still going to look up if we can fix this sooner though. And that’s not great if we just have witches wandering around hexing people. … No? So you got hexed but you’re not worried about a threat. Which means – Actually I don’t know what that means, man.”

Here Derek’s actually able to provide a bit better information, showing him a different text chain with a woman named Mei who seems to be the leader of a coven. Stiles is able to ascertain that there was a peaceful meeting planned for this past Friday.

“Huh. First of all, rude, why did you not tell Boyd and I about this? … Okay whatever you just did there was too abstract for even me to figure out, dude. But I bet you didn’t want to bother us at the competition, huh? … Well, clearly that was stupid.

This meeting was set for after school, though. Did you not take any Betas with you? … But then how did nobody fucking notice this?! … Ok, hold up, not priority right now. I have a phone number so I can totally negotiate with this bitch.”

Stiles rings the phone number for the coven leader who thankfully answered the phone quickly, more out of surprise and curiosity that Derek was calling her than anything. Stiles gets the rundown on how the meeting was perfectly fine but they were a bit peeved by Jackson’ and Erica’s snide commentary and how Derek had thrown himself in front of the hex.

Eventually Stiles is able to convince her to remove the curse, mostly by throwing the rest of the pack under the bus, relaying that this was not actually teaching anybody a lesson since the Betas didn’t even notice.

Mei is understanding and, hearing Stiles’s anger, even offered their services if Stiles wanted to mess with any of his pack mates. For now, though, she was willing to remove the spell on Derek. Stiles thanks the woman profusely before looking expectantly and excitedly at Derek. “Well??”

“Congratulations on your silver medal.”

“Oh, thank god! And, dude, I totally forgot about that.” Stiles laughs, relieved, and throws his arms around Derek in a tight hug.

Derek wraps his arms around the teen, turning his head into Stiles’s neck. “Thank you.”

Stiles knows that Derek’s thanking him for actually noticing the issue and not just for calling the witches and it just makes him more sad and angry. “Always, Der.”

He sighs, not letting go of his Alpha, “I heard about pack night, too. I’m sorry; that was really shitty of them.”

“S’okay. It’s not like they’re my ideal pack, either. But I thought maybe Isaac…”

Stiles pulls back, frowning. “I know. Maybe he’ll be better next year since he, Allison, and Scott are all going to different schools, though, and they won’t be in a love bubble anymore. He has a home to come back to here and he knows you’re paying his tuition and everything.”

“Well, I made a commitment as his guardian not just as his Alpha.”

Stiles smiles, overcome by how much he admires Derek. He’s only a few years older than him but he’s been through so much and still gets up every day and does his best. “You’re a good man, Derek Hale.”

Derek flushes a bit, stepping back to put a bit more distance between them, and clearing his throat. “You say that now. Wait until you get to Berkeley and meet all sorts of better people.”

Stiles rolls his eyes. “I don’t need to, dude. Besides-” he hesitates, worrying his bottom lip slightly, “Besides, even if I magically make a ton of friends there, none of them will compare to you. I mean, I was devoted to Lydia and I didn’t even know her. But I know you. I don’t think a little distance is going to make me love you any less.”

Stiles hears Derek’s breath hitch on the L-word and he’s already mentally berating himself, even though his scent alone must be giving himself away. But then there’s large, gentle hands cupping his face and his own breath catches in his throat with the way Derek is looking at him.

“Are you sure?”

Stiles closes the distance, his eyes falling shut at the feel of lips on his. For once all the thoughts constantly racing through his brain disappear and all he can focus on is Derek. It’s slow and sweet and so perfect.

He pulls back and knows that he has a ridiculous, dopey look on his face but he can’t be bothered to reign it in when Derek’s smiling shyly back at him. Stiles’s traitorous stomach breaks the moment, though, by grumbling loud enough for even human ears.

“Ugh, sorry, I haven’t eaten since like 8 and even then it was just shitty muffins and danishes at the awards ceremony.”

Derek frowns at him, saying that he has all the leftovers from pack night that Stiles requested and that he’ll heat some stuff up for them. When Derek brings the plates over to the couch, he sits right next to Stiles, only leaving enough room so that the can eat comfortably.

They don’t talk about the kiss, though, and Stiles is too nervous to ask or push Derek too much. He essentially puts a pause on that train of thought and will definitely freak out and analyze everything later that night. Needing a distraction, Stiles channels his anger towards the pack.

This results in Stiles jumping off the couch and pacing in front of it ranting, “It’s just unbelievable! I don’t care if they don’t want to be your friend or your Beta but this is ridiculous!

Even if they’re the most unobservant asses on the planet, they literally saw you get hit by a spell! While protecting them! Since when does a spell ever not have an effect?! At the very least they should have texted Boyd or myself!

And they’ve been ‘wolves for _how long_? Two years of having advanced senses and training and nobody fucking notices something’s wrong! Not to mention Scott who actually knew to look for a problem and - ”

“Stiles. Stiles! STILES.”

He’s broken out of his diatribe when he registers Derek trying to get his attention, and possibly has been for a while. The other guy snags his hand and Stiles lets himself be pulled to stand between Derek’s legs.

“Yes, they should have noticed. Yes, it was frustrating. But it’s okay, you figured it out, and even if you hadn’t been here it still would’ve worn off on it’s own.”

Stiles huffs. “So, what, you want me to just let this go? Even if you’re willing to forgive them personally, they need to respect you as their Alpha.”

“Normally, yes, I would care more about that but I don’t see the point of making them resent me more when they’re not going to be in my pack that much longer. _But,_ if you have something in mind, I won’t stop you.”

Stiles smirks at that because, yes he does have something in mind, thank you very much. There’s a very short list of people who can get away with pretty much anything in Stiles’s eyes but for everybody else, he does not forgive nor forget.

Derek must see the glint in his eyes because he quickly adds, “Within reason! If you weren’t such a good Emissary, I would’ve asked you to be my Left Hand but remember that this is still our own pack.”

Stiles snickers, inordinately pleased that he, the human, is being told to control himself. Judging by his position and the fact that Derek hasn’t let go of his hand, he feels okay swaying forward and capturing Derek in a kiss.

They make out for a bit and then talk for a bit, too, before Stiles grudgingly admits that he’s exhausted and should go home if he wants to wake up for school tomorrow.

He’s not too tired, though, to copy Mei’s number down and to coordinate a few things as he’s lying in bed.

* * *

Stiles has barely exited his car when he finds himself slammed back against the exterior. He’s very satisfied to note that Jackson used human-level strength since he wouldn’t’ve held back for Stiles’s sake. He makes sure to keep a straight face and act oblivious, though. Let the fun begin.

Jackson’s snarling is frankly laughable. “There’s something seriously wrong here and you need to fix it right now.”

“First of all, dude, puny human here, so I’d appreciate it if you’d tone down the ‘wolf strength. Second of all, I can’t fix anything if I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I don’t have werewolf strength! That’s the problem. I don’t know about healing but everything else? Hearing, smell, speed, sight, and strength? It’s like I’m fucking human again.”

If Stiles didn’t have a sexy Alpha ‘wolf across town, he would totally kiss Mei. He had asked her if she could strip the Betas of their advantages for a little while. She said that she couldn’t take them away but that she could achieve the same goal by concealing their wolf side from them in a way that would make them essentially feel human again.

Stiles wanted them to realize everything they were taking for granted since they’ve been bitten and to lose something just like Derek had lost his ability to communicate. The only concession was a bit of healing power for Scott and Erica since he didn’t want to actually kill them if one of them had an asthma or epilepsy attack.

He also wanted them to feel some of the pain Derek felt when his pack ignored him. So they added a component to the spell where the Betas would be invisible to everybody other than himself and their Alpha. Not literally, but they would sort of blend into the background and be overlooked and any interactions or conversations they’d have wouldn’t really leave an impression.

But some good ol’ gaslighting might be fun, too. “Are you sure about that? I’ve been slammed into a lot of things and that definitely felt like ‘wolf strength to me. Maybe you just didn’t get enough sleep? Hey, we should really get to first period.”

Stiles leaves Jackson sputtering behind him and tries his hardest not to cackle. Not to mention he’s still riding the high from seeing Derek yesterday and placing second in the fucking country at the Academic Decathlon.

He’s half expecting to be accosted by Allison or Lydia but apparently the spell is strong enough that if any of the ‘wolves told them anything, they didn’t remember it. Mei had asked what they should do for Allison but he figured that she’s not actually pack and doesn’t have any obligation to help Derek. Plus he quite liked the witches and didn’t want them on a hunter’s shit list.

He had gotten a text from Derek before he left for school that Isaac was freaking out but Stiles had just told him not to react and not to worry about it. No word from Erica or Scott, though, until they all convene at lunch.

The Betas are clearly already upset as Stiles approaches their usual table. Scott and Isaac seem to be trying to get any acknowledgment out of their girlfriend to little avail. As he sits down, Jackson is quick to sneer at him, “I’m not crazy, Stiles. Everybody else, except for Boyd for some reason, are human, too.”

“I never said you were crazy.” Stiles placates, putting his hands in the air.

Erica whines, “Well something’s wrong! Derek didn’t pick me up for school, nobody moved out of my way in the hallway, and no guys have been smelling like lust!”

Suddenly Stiles realizes that he might be standing out if he’s too ‘present.’ Quickly analyzing Boyd, Lydia, and Allison, he realizes that he should adopt a more vacant look when talking to one of the ‘wolves.

Trying not to draw attention to himself (even though his pack mates have proven just how observant they are in regard to others), he attempts to seem like he’s gradually losing a hold on the conversation. He listens as Scott and Isaac start comparing their experiences with Jackson and Erica while Stiles delightedly texts Mei the play-by-play.

* * *

The week continues in much of the same way but with some interesting bonus results:

The co-captain’s ‘invisibility’ confuses Coach Finstock enough that he makes Greenberg captain of the lacrosse team, to Jackson’s absolute fury. From Wednesday on, Scott doesn’t even bother going to practice anymore since he’s just ignored and gets out of breath so easily.

Erica tones down her outfits a bit since she’s not getting any reactions anymore, not that there was anything necessarily wrong with her clothing choices before. Isaac fails a test because he couldn’t see his cheat sheet without his enhanced eyesight.

Jackson throws himself into research on what’s wrong with them with some help from Erica. In contrast, Scott seems to focus his energy on re-wooing Allison.

He’s not sure how much of a lesson they are all learning but at least Erica and Isaac definitely realize how much they count on Derek’s car, time, and money. Plus, it’s just kind of fun to watch.

Come Friday night, Stiles is going out of his mind in anticipation waiting for Derek to pick him up for their first date. He’s second-guessing his outfit again, so more like fifth-guessing, when his phone starts vibrating incessantly.

Stiles is confused until he sees it’s the pack group chat and that the ‘wolves have come out of the spell. The general feeling is relief but Jackson says he’s still going to get to the bottom of this. He figures he'll fess up to it and, when they undoubtedly get mad, he'll get to chew them out for how they treated Derek. Stiles shoots a quick thank you text to Mei just as Derek pulls up.

**Author's Note:**

> Tbh I don’t know anything the Academic Decathlon but I figured the general concept of it worked to get the ones who would realize there was a problem with Derek out of the way. 
> 
> I read an unhealthy amount of fics and I’ve seen the concept a few times of Betas not necessarily staying with the Alpha that bit them or Derek not liking the Betas and can't wait to get them off his territory and into other packs. Normally I love happy pack family feels but I wanted to play with this idea a little bit. So Stiles and Boyd are the only ones who actually bonded with Derek.
> 
> Also, I hate the phrase "use your words" so much. Thanks for coming to my ted talk.
> 
> EDIT: So my original outline literally said 'pack faces Stiles's wrath' but then I ended up just glossing over that (fic ended when Sterek kissed). I got some reviews saying that they wished that that had been included so I've added that on. I feel like it's still not super satisfying though and I'm sorry but I just couldn't figure out how to write it. I won't be adding any more to this but thank you for the comments and I agree that a bit of payback was needed.


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